


my heart beets for you

by renecdote



Series: tumblr au shorts [4]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Cooking Shows, Get Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 01:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30148482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renecdote/pseuds/renecdote
Summary: “The audience is going to love them,” Chimney murmurs to Buck.They’re not the only ones. Buck thinks. It’s a ridiculous thought to have; he only met the Diazes three weeks ago, obviously he doesn’t love them. But... maybe he’d like the opportunity to get there.He just needs to actually ask the guy out first.Written for the prompt: Buddie + cooking show au.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: tumblr au shorts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2218920
Comments: 2
Kudos: 109





	my heart beets for you

Christopher Diaz enters the show in the fourth season. Buck has only been there for twelve months at that point, working mainly as a floor runner but pitching in wherever else he can help as well. Hen, the first AD, takes him under her wing early on and lets him tag along on location hunts and casting scouts. She’s the one who teaches him all the ins and outs of Hollywood when Buck admits that he doesn’t really have any clue what he’s doing, he just sort of… fell into the job. He followed a guy to LA on a whim and when it inevitably crashed and burned around him, one of his housemates suggested a temp gig as part of a production crew. Buck had already done every other kind of job he could find that didn’t require years of schooling to qualify, so he figured why the hell not. He was surprised to find how much he actually enjoys it.

Season four is the first time they’ve brought kids onto the show. Bobby Nash is a rising star in the celebrity chef world and his agent thinks the fresh twist will be good for his ratings. Buck is pretty sure Bobby is just excited to play around in the kitchen with a bunch of kids, teaching them how to cook before they wow him with their creations in the season finale. They held a competition and thousands of entries flooded in but only six lucky kids were chosen, Christopher among them. He’s a cute kid. He’s an _amazing_ kid, actually, funny and smart and confident in a way that most of the other kids aren’t. Buck likes him from day one.

Eddie Diaz is a whole other story. He’s friendly enough, but… reserved. Kind of tense, honestly. In the first week they spend filming, he never really looks comfortable in the studio, sitting on the edge of his seat during filming, eyes on his son the whole time. Eddie isn’t like the other parents; he’s a bit of a mystery and Buck finds himself inexplicably drawn to him. The guy clearly has no passion for cooking himself, but it’s obvious how much he loves his son. The only times he really looks at ease are when he’s with Christopher.

It’s not a conscious decision to try make the guy more comfortable—Buck’s job is literally to look after the people on set, after all. But if he spends a little more energy checking in with Eddie, or making sure Christopher is okay… Nobody else needs to know that. They don’t need to know that he has Eddie’s coffee order memorised, or that he did a bunch of reading on CP so he can make sure everything is accessible for Chris. They _definitely_ don’t need to know that the first time he makes Eddie laugh, Buck spends the rest of the day in such a high that he can’t focus on his job for more than a few seconds at a time. Every time he glances over at Eddie, he gets distracted all over again.

Right near the end of the shoot, they film a little bio clip with each kid and their parents. Buck hovers over Chimney’s shoulder behind the camera while they film Eddie and Chris.

“Dad can’t cook,” the kid giggles on camera.

“It’s true,” Eddie admits, smile a little self-conscious. “If it wasn’t for Christopher we’d starve.”

“The audience is going to love them,” Chimney murmurs to Buck.

 _They’re not the only ones_. Buck thinks. It’s a ridiculous thought to have; he only met the Diazes three weeks ago, obviously he doesn’t _love_ them. But… maybe he’d like the opportunity to get there. He just needs to actually ask the guy out first.

He waits until the end of the shoot. Bobby hosts a dinner for all the kids and their parents at the home he shares with Athena. Half the crew are invited as well—Buck, Chimney and Hen, their kickass sound mixer Josh. Athena’s kids join them, plus Michael and his partner David, and the whole dinner is a loud, happy affair. Buck’s favourite thing about joining Bobby’s production team is how much it feels like a family.

The night winds down early; most of the kids and their parents have early flights in the morning, getting back to their normal lives away from the glamour of Hollywood, but Eddie and Chris aren’t leaving with them. If they were, Buck probably wouldn’t say anything, but he found out in the second week that they recently moved to LA. He tells himself that it’s a sign—one that gives him the courage to ask Eddie out for dinner in a quiet moment before everyone is shuttled back to their accommodation.

There is a moment where Eddie frowns, confused and a little surprise, and Buck thinks he’s read this all wrong, that Eddie isn’t into men and he’s fucked up, and it’s fine really because after this they never have to see each other again but oh god—

Then Eddie says, tone coloured with cautious hope, “You want to have dinner with me?”

“I want to do a lot of things with you,” Buck blurts out. He winces, heat crawling up his cheeks. “Um, I mean yes, dinner, if you—I mean, if that’s something you want?”

Eddie laughs. He has a nice laugh, all soft and warm and fuzzy in Buck’s chest. His smile is just as sweet when he says, “I’d love to have dinner with you, Buck.”

“Great.” Buck smiles so wide his cheeks ache. “It’s a date.”

Hopefully the first of many.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are love 💛 And you can also find me on tumblr [here](https://renecdote.tumblr.com/).


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